Blog vol 3. 40. Three years on.
There are certain events that stand out in one’s memory. If you are old enough, I bet you can remember when the “O.J” verdict was handed down (October 3, 1995) or when the planes hit the towers (September 11, 2001), or when Doug Ford announced the closing of schools because of COVID (March 12, 2020).
Three years sounds like a long time and it doesn’t. We closed Burlington Eyecare on March 17th, 2020 just after Dr. Cavaliere heroically shaved his beard to fit an N95 mask. At the time we were wondering how we were going to keep things going when we had to be closed down for two weeks. We had no idea. It is a good thing that we do not know what the future holds.
Covid has not gone away, not at all, we have staff still testing positive for the virus, but we are all learning to live with it. Knowing more about the virus helps.
Things learnt these three years:
1. Optometry is a hand’s on profession. We provide in-person care and I must say that Covid has made the importance of this very clear. I really like the person-to-person interaction I have with my patients and this interaction is critical for good care.
2. The crucial importance of a team, all staff and doctors on board working together in a culture of caring. I saw it with my staff, doing the little things, going out of their way, putting themselves in harm’s way. Early on we were not sure about outcomes and the severity of the disease, but here we were.
3. Caring about staff and patients is our top priority. So we repaint the office, put up permanent (and attractive) glass enclosures, social distance, screen patients and staff, manage arrival and flow of patients with new rooms, and flexible scheduling.
4. Support is so encouraging, whether financial support from the government or from understanding suppliers, or moral support from family, friends, some really wonderful patients, and, of course, the awesome Burlington Eyecare team. It really makes all the difference.
5. The importance of dependable people in your life, as Churchill noted, having foul-weather friends. During adversity, we quickly find out who we can depend on, and these last 3 years I found very encouraging, especially when it comes to our team.
During all this, we at Burlington Eyecare lost two dear, dear people to cancer. We also welcomed two new little ones, and sadly, we have had several staff move on for various reasons. Life never stands still.
Tomorrow we are saying goodbye to Angelia Brown, one of my original employees, and a really good one. She went back to school for opticianry while with us and has been a great help to our patients and staff for many years. She is setting up her own store, it’s a dream of hers. We will miss her and wish her all the best in this new endeavour.
‘til next week,
the good doctor
